In this day and age it is easier than ever to get caught up in not feeling good about yourself. In a previous blog we discussed social media and the difficulty of navigating it as teenagers. This comes back into play here, as social media is one of the biggest contributing factors to depression in adolescents. It tends to effect girls more than boys on the whole.

 Suicide is the cause of 13% of teenage deaths in the United States. It is the third largest cause of death, falling short of only accidents and homicide. This is a very scary fact, as suicide is not something you can predict the occurrence of easily.

In 2015 the suicide rate among teenage girls rose to the highest it had been in forty years.

It can be difficult to know how to help, because it is so sporadic. The best thing to do is to talk to kids about how they are feeling, and look for signs of depression or self harm. The rate has doubled since 2007, which begs the question, “what happened?” Between 2007 and 2015, technology emerged as a much more prevalent aspect of society. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other “social media” related apps became a large part of life, particularly the life of a teenager.

It is ironic that the purpose of social media is to bring people together, yet it can be the sole reason for someone to feel completely alone.